The early warning mechanism represents an opportunity for building new and direct relationships between regional councils and the national parliament, which to date have been substantially lacking in Italy. Relying on the provision of Art. 6 of Protocol no 2 annexed to the Treaty of Lisbon, the new law on the participation of Italy in EU affairs provides, for the first time, a bottom-up process of transmission of regional opinions (also from the regional executives, by means of a âpolitical dialogueâ) to the Italian parliament, thus indirectly also enhancing the ties between the regional and national levels of government.